The Amethyst Zephyr
The Amethyst Zephyr is a form of music used during marches and military engagements originally devised by the goblin Bax Evilglows. The rules of the form are applied by composers to produce individual pieces of music which can be performed. A speaker recites any composition of The Girdled Thimbles while the music is played on a dumo. The musical voices are joined in melody. The melody has phrases of varied length throughout the form. It is performed without preference for a scale. Throughout, when possible, composers and performers are to alternate tension and repose and modulate frequently.
- The speaker always should feel playful.
- The dumo always does the main melody, should perform expressively and plays legato.
- The Amethyst Zephyr has the following structure: a passage and a coda.
- The simple passage is moderately paced, and it is to become softer and softer. The dumo covers its entire range from the watery low register to the fragile high register. Only one pitch is ever played at a time in this passage. The passage is performed in the osmze rhythm. The passage should be composed and performed using locally improvisation.
- The coda is at a hurried pace, and it is to become louder and louder. The dumo stays in the watery low register. This passage features only melodic tones and intervals. The passage is performed in the ospo rhythm.
- The osmze rhythm is made from two patterns: the dab and the gosma. The patterns are to be played in the same beat, allowing one to repeat before the other is concluded.
- The dab rhythm is a single line with seventeen beats divided into two bars in a 8-9 pattern. The beat is stressed as follows:
- | - x - - - - - - | - x - - - x x x X |
- where X marks an accented beat, x is a beat, - is silent and | indicates a bar.
- The gosma rhythm is a single line with thirty-two beats divided into eight bars in a 4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4 pattern. The beat is stressed as follows:
- | x - - - | x - - - | - - x - | - x - - | - - x x | - x X x | - X x x | x - - - |
- where X marks an accented beat, x is a beat, - is silent and | indicates a bar.
- The ospo rhythm is made from two patterns: the nolsmu (considered the primary) and the ustrok. The patterns are to be played over the same period of time, concluding together regardless of beat number.
- The nolsmu rhythm is a single line with sixteen beats divided into two bars in a 8-8 pattern. The beat is stressed as follows:
- | x x !'x x x'x x | x x X x - x x - |
- where ! marks the primary accent, X marks an accented beat, ' marks a beat as late, x is a beat, - is silent and | indicates a bar.
- The ustrok rhythm is a single line with seventeen beats divided into four bars in a 6-3-3-5 pattern. The beat is stressed as follows:
- | x X x x x x | - x - | x x X | x - - - x |
- where X marks an accented beat, x is a beat, - is silent and | indicates a bar.
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